Albany Co. executive vetoes ban on pharmacy cigarette sales

In this March 18, 2013 file photo cigarette packs are displayed for sale at a convenience store in New York. No one under 21 would be able to buy cigarettes in New York City under a proposal unveiled Monday, April 22, 2013 to make the city the most populous place in America to set the minimum age that high. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

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ALBANY >>The Albany County Executive vetoed a law passed by the county legislature in August that would have banned the sale of tobacco at pharmacies and stores with pharmacies. Instead, County Executive Dan McCoy issued an executive order for a ban on tobacco displays at these establishments.

In a letter to the county legislature’s clerk on Wednesday, McCoy said he could not support the proposed law.

“Cigarette smoking is a dangerous and lethal activity. I applaud all efforts that reduce the effects of smoking, especially among the young. I cannot, however, support Local Law D. There are numerous legal defects among them that Local Law D lacks an enforcing agency, lacks a collection procedure for fines and lacks the prerequisite licensing law that would allow Albany County to regulate cigarette sales. Additionally, it is my belief that, even if these legal flaws

were addressed, its effect would be to redirect consumers to stores without pharmacies,” McCoy’s letter dated Sept. 10 states.

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Local Law D was passed, 21-17, last month by the Albany County legislature. It was met with both negative and positive responses. The Food Industry Alliance of NYS was one of the organizations not in favor of the law since many of their supermarkets have already voluntarily placed tobacco products in locked cabinets. The law would have affected 14 supermarkets with pharmacies in the county.

“County Executive McCoy has shown great political courage in his veto of this legislation. We all want to protect our families but eliminating the ability to legally purchase legal products from stores is not right, especially when they have already voluntarily taken measures to ensure that the tobacco products are not visible in their displays,” said Michael Rosen, FIANYS president and CEO.

In lieu of support for Local Law D, McCoy issued an executive order to ban the display of tobacco at pharmacies and stores with pharmacies. The order cited research which showed that the prevention of a display should decrease the number of young people addicted to tobacco products.

“For two years, we have been sharing evidence-based information and research directly with Albany County decision-makers on the benefits of ending the sale of tobacco in pharmacies and the information is compelling,” said Rightmyer in a statement. “Reducing the number of tobacco retailers has a direct effect on tobacco consumption. And removing tobacco from pharmacies reinforces the fact that tobacco and health don’t mix, an important goal in denormalizing tobacco use. The majority of Albany County Legislators obviously agreed when they voted in favor of the law. Moreover, the majority of Albany county residents support ending the sale of tobacco in pharmacies.”

Rightmyer said that more than 100 Massachusetts municipalities have successfully passed and implemented local laws ending the sale of tobacco in pharmacies and several other New York State municipalities are currently considering similar legislation.

Within the next 45 days, the Albany County legislature has an opportunity to hold another vote on the measure in an attempt to override the veto. They would need 3/5th of the 39 legislators to vote in favor to override the veto, officials said.